Great News! Amazon scores more ebook exclusives

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by DMSmillie

No-one's being "screwed over". Except the authors whose works you copy and distribute illegally because you're throwing a tantrum. No-one's being "denied access" to these "exclusive deal" books, either - as has been pointed out ad nausea Kindle eBooks can be read on a wide range of devices. Hardly Amazon's responsibility if you choose not to use any of the free apps they provide. I'd suggest it's a rare e-reader owner who doesn't also have either a PC or a Mac.

Just when did the law get written that says that JSWolf MUST be able to read EVERY eBook on HIS personal choice of e-reader?

Actually, they are being screwed over. There's no reason to have exclusivity There is no reason to have just one format for eBooks if there's a need for multiple formats. Why should I have to be tethered to a small screen, a laptop, or my desktop when I have a perfectly good 6" eink Reader? It's not a matter of my not choosing to use one of the Kindle apps. It's my choosing to use what works best for me. The Kindle apps do not work best for me. They also do not work best for a lot of people. If they did work best for them, then there would not be an issue.

It's not just for me that this is a problem. It's a problem for a lot of people who do not strip DRM and format shift. There is no reason for the publishers not to support ePub and Mobipocket.

And as for pirating the exclusive eBooks, I have no problem at all with that. The publishers and/or authors want to screw the customers, then the customers should screw them back.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by pholy

I notice the people arguing for Amazon exclusive deals all have Kindles...

It's also the people with Kindles saying this isn't a problem and that we can strip and convert. But not everyone does that and not everyone wants to have to do that. And not everyone wants to give Amazon money for eBooks. And finally, not everyone wants to use a Kindle app on a device they don't normally use for reader eBooks.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by DMSmillie

I do have a problem, though, with the notion that publishing an ebook in just one format, through one major retailer, is somehow evil, and deserves to be punished by having the books pirated and distributed indiscriminately; and in particular I have a problem with the constant misinformation that it is "denying access" to those books for those without a Kindle, when that patently isn't true.

The fact that I dislike that kind of dishonest argument doesn't mean I'm "in favour of" Amazon exclusive deals, as implied by the quote above. I'm simply not willing to accept that this kind of exclusive deal - with any major retailer - is the monstrous evil being portrayed here.

But it is an evil that is helping to again cause more of a mess with eBooks. We had a tower of eBable and we still do just not as much as before. Now we have a tower of DRM with Apple and B&N. The Tower of eBable is being propped up by Apple, Amazon, and B&N not going with something that would work for everyone.

Now, I know you can get apps for B&N and apps for Amazon and iBooks for iOS devices. But if you don't like those choices and they have the eBook you want locked up tight and nobody else has it, then it is a bad thing and if the DRM can be stripped, those exclusive eBooks should be set free and made free. I don't care if this is a time limited exclusivity of say 6 months or whatnot because when they make these deals, they never say if they are permanent or temporary. So for all we know, we could be waiting forever.

I know you feel it's wrong to pirate these exclusive eBooks. But I feel it's wrong to have them be exclusive in the first place. And I for one do not want to buy eBooks from Amazon. So I don't. But if I am forced to and I do, then I will help set it free.

If the publishers and authors do not want me pirating their eBooks, then they can stop me doing it very easily. Stop making exclusive deals.

[tompe]

Originally Posted by murraypaul

Are you going to lend them your time machine to allow them to have used a format that didn't exist when they were developing the first Kindle?

Of course the format did exist then. Adobes implementation might not have existed but that is another thing then the format.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by tompe

Of course the format did exist then. Adobes implementation might not have existed but that is another thing then the format.

But Amazon owns Mobipocket and had a ready supply of eBooks available to sell for the Kindle. All they had to do was change the DRM slightly.

[murraypaul]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

ePub didn't exist when Sony made their readers. But Sony did go the ADE route. There was nothing stopping Amazon from doing the same thing.

And nothing benefiting them from doing so.
Once they had already built all the infrastructure required, why would they voluntarily give away 20-25c per sale to Adobe, to provide what they are already providing for themselves at cost?
Sony were failing, Amazon were succeeding.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by murraypaul

And nothing benefiting them from doing so.
Once they had already built all the infrastructure required, why would they voluntarily give away 20-25c per sale to Adobe, to provide what they are already providing for themselves at cost?
Sony were failing, Amazon were succeeding.

Amazon is seriously fragmenting the market. We need a single eBook standard with no DRM but if we have to have DRM, then it should all be the same DRM. ePub is that format and adept is that DRM.

It wasn't that Sony was failing. It was that Sony realized that using LRX wasn't a good idea. Amazon just doesn't realize hat ePub is better then Mobipocket.

[murraypaul]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Amazon is seriously fragmenting the market. We need a single eBook standard with no DRM but if we have to have DRM, then it should all be the same DRM. ePub is that format and adept is that DRM.

It wasn't that Sony was failing. It was that Sony realized that using LRX wasn't a good idea. Amazon just doesn't realize hat ePub is better then Mobipocket.

Sony had a pretty poor quality book store offering, so there was a big advantage to giving access to books from other stores.
Amazon has the best bookstore, so the issue is nowhere near as important.
Switching DRM is not free. Again, why would Amazon voluntarily give away 20-25c per sale to another company?

[ProfCrash]

Nook and Kobo owners can blame their companies decision for their inability to read Mobi formated books on their devices.

BN and Kobo chose a different format then Amazon when they decided to go with EPub and they started selling their e-readers well after the Kindle had been released. They chose a different format, probably because they didn't want their readers buying books from Amazon, and now people who own Nooks and Kobo's complain about Amazon's not changing formats to make their life easier.

The companies that make the Nook and Kobo chose to use a different format then Amazon. Amazon did not chose to use a different format from them. Sony was not using EPub when Amazon was developing the Kindle. The format Sony was using was bad enough that Sony changed formats, so there was no good reason for Amazon to choose the same format.

Basically, this "format war" is not Amazons fault but BN and Kobos. Even with that you can read the books using any number of apps so you are not locked out. If you choose not to read the book using those free aps, that is on you and not Amazon.

[kennyc]

Mobi/amazon has also had a policy of not allowing any other DRM format on the same system.

[EowynCarter]

It wasn't that Sony was failing. It was that Sony realized that using LRX wasn't a good idea.

Exactly. Sony realized going alone was a bad idea. Neither did they have amazon's market share to allow for such stupidity. They switched to ePub. Having more than one format is a bad idea.
More work for polishers, customers can't buy where they want.

Amazon has the best bookstore, so the issue is nowhere near as important

It is. To people who feel like changing e-readers. Or people wanting books that are not on amazon. (Yes, there are lots of books amazon don't have. While not everyone cares about books in French, i certainly do.)

Switching DRM is not free. Again, why would Amazon voluntarily give away 20-25c per sale to another company?

That's the price adobe asks ? Bah, ditch the drm !

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

Nook and Kobo owners can blame their companies decision for their inability to read Mobi formatted books on their devices.

That is pure BS. The blame lies with Amazon. Sony wanted to add another DRMed format to their Reader. They decided to go with Mobipocket and because Amazon (owners of Mobipocket) said that they had be the only DRMed format, that was right out. So Sony went with ePub. And because of this, ePub got its start.

BN and Kobo chose a different format then Amazon when they decided to go with EPub and they started selling their e-readers well after the Kindle had been released. They chose a different format, probably because they didn't want their readers buying books from Amazon, and now people who own Nooks and Kobo's complain about Amazon's not changing formats to make their life easier.

The companies that make the Nook and Kobo chose to use a different format then Amazon. Amazon did not chose to use a different format from them. Sony was not using EPub when Amazon was developing the Kindle. The format Sony was using was bad enough that Sony changed formats, so there was no good reason for Amazon to choose the same format.

Basically, this "format war" is not Amazons fault but BN and Kobos. Even with that you can read the books using any number of apps so you are not locked out. If you choose not to read the book using those free aps, that is on you and not Amazon.

No, it is Amazon's fault. By not allowing Sony to use Mobipocket, Sony then went ePub via ADE.

[elcreative]

As a Kindle user please note that this is no excuse for untruths, your machine choice is your business and it is a popular one, just not the only right way... Sony's format was actually pretty good... so much so that many people change their epubs to lrf as they prefer its operation and appearance. Sony changed to epub because it was an upcoming and reasonable open format and because Amazon refused to allow the use of the mobi system they own.

Nook and Kobo owners don't have to blame their manufacturers for an inability to use mobi... they can blame the company that owns mobi... may be a good commercial decision for Amazon but it certainly is NOT everyone else's fault that other readers can't read mobi, it's a proprietary format that belongs to Amazon... and they get to keep it...

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

Nook and Kobo owners can blame their companies decision for their inability to read Mobi formated books on their devices.

BN and Kobo chose a different format then Amazon when they decided to go with EPub and they started selling their e-readers well after the Kindle had been released. They chose a different format, probably because they didn't want their readers buying books from Amazon, and now people who own Nooks and Kobo's complain about Amazon's not changing formats to make their life easier.

The companies that make the Nook and Kobo chose to use a different format then Amazon. Amazon did not chose to use a different format from them. Sony was not using EPub when Amazon was developing the Kindle. The format Sony was using was bad enough that Sony changed formats, so there was no good reason for Amazon to choose the same format.

Basically, this "format war" is not Amazons fault but BN and Kobos. Even with that you can read the books using any number of apps so you are not locked out. If you choose not to read the book using those free aps, that is on you and not Amazon.

[murraypaul]

Originally Posted by EowynCarter

That's the price adobe asks ? Bah, ditch the drm !

Those are the figures that have been mentioned here several times. Adobe don't make the costs public on their website.
If you figure a $10 Agency book, Amazon's revenue is $3. So they would be giving up around 8% straight off the top if they had to pay Adobe 25c.
Even if they did switch to ePub they would do so with their own homegrown DRM, just to save on costs.
I think the numbers show that in the US the biggest three bookstores are Amazon, B&N and Apple. They all use their own DRM schemes. Only the smaller players use Adept.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by murraypaul

Those are the figures that have been mentioned here several times. Adobe don't make the costs public on their website.
If you figure a $10 Agency book, Amazon's revenue is $3. So they would be giving up around 8% straight off the top if they had to pay Adobe 25c.
Even if they did switch to ePub they would do so with their own homegrown DRM, just to save on costs.
I think the numbers show that in the US the biggest three bookstores are Amazon, B&N and Apple. They all use their own DRM schemes. Only the smaller players use Adept.

Apple a big bookstore? HAHAHAHAHA!

It's not always who sells the most as a single store. ePub with Adept is sold all over the world. So when you take that into consideration, it is the #1 DRMed format.